


And then there were Six

by queerbioengineer



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Canonical Character Death, Crying, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Old Age, Old Friends, Reconciliation, Resolution, those elf life spans though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 08:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18362186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerbioengineer/pseuds/queerbioengineer
Summary: “Well shit, you got old.”She startled, and found herself chuckling despite the tension between them. “That tends to happen,” she said, words coming out more slowly and carefully these days as even speaking started to take more effort. Her hearing wasn’t what it used to be either, but the stillness of the shore around them lent itself to her, allowing her to hear his wistful response.“Not for us, it doesn’t.”Or, the one where Magnus dies.





	And then there were Six

The sun was setting over the distant horizon, casting broad rays of warm orange and pink across the sleepy, rolling sea. Somewhere, a seagull was cawing, adding a solitary noise to the quiet crash of waves against soft yellow sand. The world that they had saved was still, as it gave a calm, bittersweet goodbye to the first of them. 

 

The pier was empty, except for one lone figure, the orange light reflected in eyes that were only slightly clouded with cataracts. Lup had rolled her wheelchair out here a while ago, at her request, but hesitated to leave her alone. Lucretia suspected she was still somewhere nearby. 

 

But she was alright. She just wanted to sit here a while, holding the duck that her dear friend had made for her so very long ago. 

 

It hadn’t been all that surprising that she had outlived Magnus, even with the twenty years that she had lost. Years of fighting and adventuring in this world took a toll on him, after a while. 

But as his family said goodbye to him earlier that day, there was no weeping, no sobs. Only quiet tears rolling down the upturned cheeks of shaky smiles, the tears of those who knew that he had lived a good life in every sense of the word. Those who couldn’t help but be happy for him, as he finally went home. Those who weren’t crying for him, but for themselves, and for how much they would miss Magnus Burnsides. 

 

Lucretia heard someone walking up the pier behind her, his footsteps unmistakable, and she closed her eyes. She had come to terms with his indifference towards her years ago, accepting that she would always have to bear the consequences of her mistakes. The pain had faded to a dull ache with time, and she tried to just appreciate the civility he showed her for the sake of their shared family.  

 

But on this day, in this place, as her tears still dried from the loss of Magnus, she wasn’t sure she could hold herself together while looking in the eyes of the one she had lost long ago. 

 

Taako hadn’t cried earlier, sitting by Magnus’s bedside, but Lucretia knew better than to think him unaffected. When the time came, she found her eyes drawn to his hand, moving to touch an invisible one on his shoulder. She felt as though she were intruding on something sacred and private when she heard him whisper: 

“Take care of him.” 

 

She opened her eyes once more to look at him now. He had sat himself right next to her chair, leaning back on his hands as he looked out over the sunset, steadfastly avoiding her face. She couldn’t help but marvel at how he didn’t seem to have aged a day in the last 35 years, looking young as the day he came to the moon-base, despite the centuries he had lived. He had been through so much, and was still somehow so full of life. It made her happy to see him like that, enjoying the love that he found and the family he cherished. It was the least that he deserved. 

 

Her own hair had long since gone gray, her eyes wrinkled around the edges and her bones growing frail, but she hadn’t been pained by the change. It felt right, like her body was finally ready to catch up to her mind, which had lived and known so much more than she ever thought was possible. More worlds, more stories, more love. 

And more mistakes. 

 

 “Well shit, you got old.” 

 

She startled, and found herself chuckling despite the tension between them. “That tends to happen,” she said, words coming out more slowly and carefully these days as even speaking started to take more effort. Her hearing wasn’t what it used to be either, but the stillness of the shore around them lent itself to her, allowing her to hear his wistful response. 

 

“Not for us, it doesn’t.” 

 

She turned her head, and saw him staring at his wrinkle-free hands as if they confused him somehow. She hoped that Taako would be alright, with Magnus gone. Their bond was special, them and Merle having found each other despite her best efforts to the contrary. 

 

Lucretia knew that he wouldn’t want her comfort, of all people’s. But she didn’t have much to lose anymore by trying. 

 

“It’s alright to be sad, Taako. Everyone is going to miss him,” she said softly. She ran her gnarled hands over the wooden duck, which had been so loving carved and sanded so as not to cause splinters. “He’ll be happy with her, though.”

 

“I know. I’m not sad about that.” 

 

Lucretia paused in petting the duck, trying to decipher his silence amidst the sleepy haze of sunset washing over them, periodically broken by a distant gull. It may have been minutes or hours before the elf spoke again, his voice quieter than she had ever heard it. 

 

“I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself, Lucy.” She felt a jolt of nostalgia at nickname. Gods, she hadn’t heard him call her that since the Starblaster. But he seemed thoughtful now,  contemplating the little details on the duck in her hands.

“Guess I’m feeling guilty, cause I was never really alone.” 

 

And then he was looking at her. “But my sister was.” 

 

Lucretia felt a sharp tug of guilt at the old wound in her heart, but didn’t let herself look away from him. After what she had done, after hiding Lup from him for so long and taking his life away, she owed Taako this. Owed him her ear, at the very least.  

 

 “I spent so many years thinking I was alone, that I didn’t have anyone, and my sister was _right there,_ she was right under my nose the whole time-“ he shook his head, and to her dismay, she saw his shining eyes illuminated in the dusk light, his jaw clenching as he cut himself off.

 

“Taako, you couldn’t have known-“ 

 

“I should’ve.” Taako sniffed. He turned back to the rolling waves, avoiding her face once more as tremors started to shake his voice. “I should’ve known. She was alone for so long, and because I’m such an _idiot_ , I wasted so much time with her, and now-“ 

 

He drew in a shuddering breath, and Lucretia’s heart ached. In all the time she’d known him, she had only seen him cry a handful of times. And here he sat beside her, tears suddenly streaming down his cheeks as he lost his composure, saying more to her now than he had in the last ten years. She felt her own eyes start to water for the second time that day, hating herself for having caused him this much pain. 

 

“N-now cause I’m such an idiot, she still doesn’t kn-know how much I l-love h-her, after all th-this time,” he spluttered out, wiping furiously at his eyes as noises of distress escaped his throat. 

 

“Oh, Taako,” she whispered, reaching out a wrinkled hand to rub his shoulder in some poor semblance of comfort. “Of course Lup knows. You don’t have to say it, she’ll always know.” 

 

Taako sniffled and took shuddered breaths into his hands and wiped away the mascara running from his puffy eyes. He didn’t push her hand away, so she kept it there, trying to rub at his shoulder soothingly, cherishing the chance to touch him again after so long. 

 

Finally, he sat himself up once again, removing his hands from his face as he took controlled breaths in and out. Lucretia withdrew her hand, watching him sadly as he composed himself. To her surprise, he then turned his violet-tinted eyes right at her, a tiny hint of his signature smirk dancing on the corners of his lips. But when he whispered, it was so very soft, and so very unlike him, that she almost believed she had imagined it: 

 

“‘M not talking about Lup, Lucy.” 

 

And he gave a watery chuckle, visibly trying to keep it together as if he hadn’t just stopped her weak old heart right then and there. He took one of her hands in his, rubbing his thumb over the protruding veins and liver spots as if they would fade away beneath his touch. 

 

“I just watched Magnus die, Lucy. And I’m gonna watch you die too,” he said, blinking rapidly. “And then I’ll watch Merle die, and then Angus, and Angus's kids, and maybe even his dumb, nerdy little grand-kids."

 

“Taako-“ 

 

“And it’s _fine_ , y’know. I’ll be fine. Ch’boi’s got it.” He sniffled, squeezing her hand a bit tighter. “But like, even if I can’t forgive you now, I got a heck of a lot of time left to do it, y’know?” 

 

Taako was starting to get blurry, as Lucretia couldn’t bring herself to clear her own eyes. 

 

“Taako, I-“ she choked on her words, a hair’s breadth away from completely overwhelmed. “I took your sister, you…you don’t ever have to forgive me for that,” she whispered, squeezing his hand like it might disappear from her grasp any moment, decide that this was all some elaborate joke and he was ready to vanish from her life once again. 

 

“Yeah, you did.” And then he was holding both her hands, looking her in the eyes as his voice cracked on a sentence she never dreamed she’d hear him say. 

 

“But you’re my sister too.” 

 

And then his sinewy frame was half-strewn across her lap as was hugging her, dissolving in sobs as he said things that she barely heard above the rushing of blood through her head. She vaguely remembered saying things like it’s okay, that he had nothing to be sorry for, that she loved him too, and of course she always knew that, but she still cried, with every bone in her body. She still wept in joy and pain, as she hugged him close, feeling decades worth of pent up love release itself at once. 

 

And she didn’t even notice the wooden duck, dropped off the pier into the rolling tide amidst the flurry of their tearful embrace. And it may have been a trick of the light, but its well-worn features made the little bird look quite pleased with itself as it sailed off into the waning sunset. 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments if you liked it! Or if you cried, cause I know I did. 
> 
> (I have a lot of feelings about this)


End file.
